Essay On George Whitefield

The Teachings of George Whitefield

George Whitefield was a very important man during the First Great Awakening. He allowed people to believe that they would be forgiven in the eyes of God. He taught people about God’s ability to transform anyone who is weak, insignificant and despised and make them highly useful, world-changing, and life-producing individuals.

To better understand George there should first be an understanding of the First Great Awakening. The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in the North American British colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries. With these revivals, some preachers made themselves known. One of these preachers was George Whitefield. The Great Awakening followed the Enlightenment period in British America. The Enlightenment being a period where science, math, philosophy, and astronomy thrived. The Christian faith teaches the opposite. With that said, empiricism also known as the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience, would be a difficult thing to reconcile. George Whitefield taught people that this was not true and that there was still hope in the eyes of God. In one of his sermons, George said “As God, he satisfied, at the same time that he obeyed and suffered as man; and, being God and man in one person, he wrought out a full, perfect, and sufficient

righteousness for all to whom it was to be imputed.” What he was saying in this phrase is that God in his three forms as a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit suffered in life and death for sinners who accepted Him. Powerful words like these are what allowed for colonists to find new meaning and comfort in religion.
As a fifteen year old George convinced his mother to pull him out of school because he saw no value in education. Even as a young adult, he had a very persuasive quality. Later at the age of seventeen George reconsidered and went to the University of Oxford. While at Oxford George joined a club named “The Holy Club”. The club was a gathering of students dedicated to prayer, fasting, and other spiritual exercises. They called themselves “Methodists” because of the methods they used to promote personal holiness. Through this club he met the Wesley Brothers who through their seriousness and devotion inspired George to go deeper with God and His teachings. This is where the Methodist movement began with George Whitefield and the Wesley brothers as the heads. George was the first in the group to recognize the difference between a legalistic religion and experiencing an inner change through the new birth in Christ. George received ordination as a deacon in the Church of England in 1736 right after receiving his BA. After ordination George immediately began preaching
George did not settle as the minister of any parish.

Rather he became an itinerant preacher and evangelist. His first sermon was preached in his home town and his great authority was immediately evident to all who heard. As with many of the world’s greatest people George was mocked by many but, hundreds more were converted as they listened. George Whitefield made his first trip of seven to North America in 1738. He traveled to the newly established colony named Georgia. There he conceived the idea of establishing an orphanage, which he named Bethesda. For the remainder of his life, Whitefield continued to raise money for the

orphanage.
George then returned to England, at his arrival Whitefield’s preaching became increasingly popular. Whitefield was known for the dramatic style in which he preached. He engaged everyone and it’s said that he was more of an actor than a preacher. His voice was powerful, which was necessary to be able to reach the large crowds that gathered to hear him. Even in his initial audiences the number of people who gathered exceeded 6,000 to 8,000. Even the famous Benjamin Franklin wrote about George in his journal saying that he estimated Whitefield could be heard clearly by up to thirty thousand people and that “From being thoughtless and indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk through Philadelphia in the evening without hearing Psalms sung in different families of every street.”
Whitefield truly lived by the road less traveled. He sought out groups of people whom other ministers had passed over, such as miners in Britain or slaves in Georgia. He was a preacher of extraordinary power and possessed a supreme ability to hold audiences, attracting people from every rank and station in life. His more natural illustrations and more unrehearsed style changed the way American evangelical’s preached. After George churches were packed again, the moral climate was transformed, and the ministry was crowded with converted men. The man who began as a school dropout managed to completely change British America from an unmoral and science driven society to a Godly and believing one. Not only did he change the minds of hundreds of thousands of people but, he also changed the way evangelicals would preach forever.